The apparel and textile sector in Philippines hopes that a free trade agreement (FTA) with the US will help the industry regain its old days of glory.
This was announced by Ramon Lopez, Secretary of Trade and Industry, while he was speaking to the reporters at the first Philippines Garment and Fabric Exhibition.
The Secretary also said that Philippines used to be one of the major apparel exporters globally, the US being one of their major allies. He added that the government was putting efforts to make the deal happen.
There are only 9 to 10 garment companies from Philippines (out of nearly 80 international companies) participating at the event, which reflects the current poor state of T&C sector in the country.
The US, which is currently focusing on bilateral FTAs, is already holding preliminary talks with the Philippines with the objective of finding some initial benefits to take forward trade negotiations.
It is worth noting that Philippines once used to be a big apparel industry and it was only after the textile quotas were scrapped by WTO in 2005 that the performance of the T&C sector slumped.
This eventually led to the closure of many garment factories in the country.
Lopez also remarked that apparels may finally be under Generalized System of Preferences, which is one of the largest US trade preference programmes.
